


Tainted Red

by samos7



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-09
Updated: 2020-05-09
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:14:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24084916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/samos7/pseuds/samos7
Summary: "If Catra were a color, she would be the color red."
Relationships: Adora & Catra (She-Ra), Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 60





	Tainted Red

When Adora was younger, her favorite color was red.

There were multiple reasons for this, the first one being that it was one of the colors she was surrounded by the most while living in the Horde. She had become accustomed to it as a child, and as a result she never bothered to look at the pastels that lived outside the Fright Zone. 

But it was deeper than that, because she also appreciates the meaning behind it. Red is the universal symbol for passion that translates through the hues of the shade. It’s powerful in its own ways, representing dominance for whoever decides to reach for it. It causes heads to turn and inexplicably demands the attention of others. 

She thinks this is why Catra wears it so often. 

And red looks absolutely beautiful on her, it compliments her skin tone and draws attention to her dark roots. Even after all these years, the color still takes Adora’s breath away. 

If Catra were a color, she would be the color red. 

Adora thinks this now even as Catra attacks her, trying yet failing to steal the sword away from She-Ra. She hates fighting on defense, but she’s given no choice as Catra continues to throw kicks and punches in her direction. No matter how many times she tries to stop her, the attempts are fruitless. 

Catra is relentless, and Adora is barely able to keep up as they brawl each other. She supposes it was also like this when they were children, but it felt different. They were no longer on the same team waiting for one another to catch up.

No matter how many times Adora reaches out and tries to meet in the middle, Catra always slips away before she fully can. The realization hurts more than any physical punch she can throw, and the distraction is enough to allow Catra to inevitably pin her against the wall. 

They’re both breathing heavily, yet Catra still has a look of triumph on her face as she’s able to finally take the sword away from Adora. Her cheeks are tinted a light shade of red, and it adds to Adora’s appreciation of the color for just a second.

But then Catra begins to laugh, and it brings her back to reality as she processes what she had lost.

“Hey Adora,” Catra says with a smile that shows all of her teeth. 

Usually she would love to see the look of happiness on Catra’s face, but there was sinistry behind her grin. As a result anger stirs inside Adora’s gut, and it’s the only thing she can focus on as Catra begins to brush her hand against her cheek. It feels gentle, and while Adora knows it’s only meant for mockery she can’t help but close her eyes at the sensation of it, breathing out a shaky sigh. 

“I don’t want to do this anymore,” Adora tries, but her pleads are ignored as she feels the same hand begin to tighten around her neck, pulling her into a chokehold. 

_“You left me.”_

The words are spoken with ruthlessness, and she can practically see the hatred in Catra’s eyes as she stares down at Adora.

She suddenly reminded of when Catra would look at her with affection, when she would playfully nudge her shoulder and laugh at her jokes. That was when Adora would associate Catra with the color red the most. Red is the representation of love and adoration, and there was nothing that Adora loved more than those eyes. 

The memory feels like so long ago, and it taunts her as she faces the woman she once knew everything about. 

But that wasn’t true. Deep down, Adora was certain that the Catra she knew and loved was still in there, trapped inside and replaced with a caricature she plays of herself. If they had more time, Adora would try to find the part of Catra that wasn’t motivated through her fear and anger of the world. 

This was nothing but wishful thinking however, and Adora knows what has to be done. There was no time left for dreams. 

Adora moves her own hand so it rests on top of Catra’s, and the action clearly throws her off guard. She leaves it there, caressing Catra’s fingers with such tenderness in the hopes that Catra could hear the apology on the tip of her tongue. For a brief moment, Adora dreams about what could have been if they had simply been given the chance. 

This is the final thought she has before she rams herself into Catra’s body, stealing the sword back with one swipe and not hesitating to finish the lethal blow. 

Catra looks down in shock, staring at the sword that presses into her stomach and covers itself in blood. She falls to her knees, staring at Adora with betrayal as she tries to hold onto the wound. Her fingers are coated in the process, and Adora feels as if she’s about the throw up just from the sight alone. 

She attempts to help Catra, but she knows there’s no taking back what she had done. 

Still, Adora can’t bear the thought of Catra dying without any love or comfort. She has already been through so much, and the least she deserves is the knowledge that she’s not alone as she takes her final breath. 

So Adora holds her close, not bothered by the fact that blood was now ruining her clothes as well; her only concern was whether or not Catra was still alive. She praises her with each gasp she takes and tries to be as gentle as she can when pressing down on the wound. 

Eventually, Catra opens her mouth to say something, but the words are completely unintelligible. Adora watches closely as Catra looks her in the eyes, and she seems so terrified despite not knowing what was going on. 

Adora whispers reassurances in her ears anyway, straight up lying to her as she promises that everything was going to be okay. She reminds Catra that she is loved. She apologizes more times than she can count, and the words spill out of Adora with no filter.

Catra dies like that, wrapped around Adora’s arms as she bleeds out on the floor. She closes his eyes and it’s not until they don’t open again when Adora chooses to break down, furious at the world for yet again taking away the best thing she’s ever had. 

But Adora couldn’t blame the universe this time around, she knew that this was her fault. 

She rocks back and forth with Catra’s dead body in her arms, completely delirious from her own grief as sobs escape her. 

Adora mourns, and then she wakes up. 

She shoots out of bed in an instance, covered in sweat and barely able to catch her breath as she moves to find the switch. Artificial lights blind her eyes, and she waits a moment for them to adjust as she looks around the room. 

It takes longer than it should for Adora to process that she was in Bright Moon, and once the realization strikes she sinks back into bed, trying yet failing to stay calm as she separates herself from the looming nightmare.

She doesn’t know whether or not she should be relieved or terrified, because while it was nice to know that she hadn’t killed Catra, the reality of the situation was that Adora didn’t know if she was alive either way. 

She and Glimmer were gone, leaving Adora alone not for the first time in her life.

She takes a deep breath while trying to stop her heart from racing. She squeezes her eyes shut but still finds the blood that stains her vision.

Adora snaps her eyes back open, and she can only see red as she looks around the empty room. She knows that it’s all in her head, but she still feels tainted. 

Red was once her favorite color, she used to correlate it to strength and independence. She laughs at herself as she wonders how she could ever be that naive. 

Red was the symbol of anger, torment, war, _blood_. It was a color that she never wants to see on Catra, even though she knows that she will inevitably not be given an option. 

Adora lays in bed, but she doesn’t fall asleep for the rest of the night.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!


End file.
